NPC Report: It Is About Jobs
January 5, 2010 The last week in November, President Obama convened a White House summit to focus attention and develop policy options for stemming the continued rise in unemployment in the U.S. While many economic indicators point to an improvement in the overall economic situation, a reduction in unemployment does not appear to be on the horizon.
President Obama’s actions to focus attention on the unemployment problem are commendable and important. However, creating new jobs is only part of the picture. Efforts to improve the job market in the U.S. must focus on both creating new jobs and maintaining existing jobs.
The president and his advisors seem to understand the value of retaining existing jobs. There has been a focused effort by the administration to quantify the number of jobs saved by the stimulus package. While the debate over the cost effectiveness of the stimulus in saving existing jobs will be debated forever, the value of taking smart actions to safeguard the jobs of Americans who are currently working is not debatable.
Trade Dispute Job Losses
Currently, jobs in the U.S. are being lost as a result of a trade dispute with Mexico over the failure of our government to establish a program to allow Mexican trucks to deliver Mexican cargo to locations north of the border. The tariffs imposed by Mexico were sanctioned by a NAFTA review panel and were allowed based on the clear failure of the U.S. to meet our treaty obligations. According to the Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs, the imposition of the tariffs and the subsequent reduction in sales to Mexico will result in the loss of 25,000 jobs once final shifts in production occur, if the tariff remains in place for 18 months or more.
The retaliatory tariffs were put in place in March 2009 and since that time have steadily reduced exports to Mexico for targeted commodities and manufactured products. In agriculture alone, more than 40 tariff lines were targeted and commodities including Christmas trees, onions, almonds, grapes, pears, apricots, cherries, and potatoes have seen exports decline and employment reduced.
Saving the jobs impacted by the retaliatory tariffs is not costly. In fact, the cost of inaction greatly exceeds the cost of implementing a sound plan to allow access for Mexican trucks while protecting the safety of those on U.S. highways.
The administration needs only to be willing to listen to transportation experts who can easily develop a plan for Mexican truck access that is affordable, safe, and consistent with our treaty obligations. Saving the jobs impacted by these tariffs will require commitment on the part of the president and a willingness to invest some political capital. It is just stimulus spending of a different variety and with a more certain effect. Remove the tariffs and the markets and the jobs will come back.
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